Eu centers proposal submission guidelines

ANNEX I

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EUROPEAN COMMISSION DIRECTORATE GENERAL FOR EXTERNAL RELATIONS DELEGATION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION

EU CENTERS OF EXCELLENCE 2011-14

Proposal Narrative Form¹
Receipt Deadline June 20, 2011

Project Title: The University of Texas European Union Center of Excellence – Grant Proposal

Start Date and End Date of Project: September 1^st, 2011 – August 31^st, 2014

Contact Details for Project Principal Investigator:

Douglas Biow, Director

Center for European Studies

The University of Texas at Austin

MEZ 3.126

1 University Station A1800

Austin, TX 78712Austin, Texas 78713-8925

512-232-4311 (Phone)

512-232-3470

[e-mail]

Signature of Project Principal Investigator:


EU CENTERS 2008-112011-14

Proposal Narrative Form

Summary Overview of the Project. Briefly describe the major themes to be addressed, major research, teaching, and outreach activities to be undertaken, and the expected impact of the program upon the university community and external outreach constituencies, and any activities that will be delegated to sub-contractors. Attach additional page(s) if necessary. MAJOR THEMES: The theme of globalization has dominated the last two decades of post-Cold War era scholarship and policy studies to a point where it has become ubiquitous. With globalization came opportunities for economic growth and prosperity that have been unparalleled in recent modern history. However, it has also brought a number of novel challenges such as climate change, terrorism, currency fluctuations, financial crisis contagion and infectious diseases. Just as the opportunities are globalized, so too the problems of today’s era. These challenges and crises have little respect for the traditional notions of state borders and resist unilateral solutions. In today’s globalized world, events far beyond one’s borders may have profound consequences for security and prosperity at home. The world as we know it is rapidly changing. Globalization and technological innovation are making countries more interconnected. Increased global interdependence is creating new opportunities for economic growth and prosperity. It is also eroding traditional notions of sovereignty and spawning new problems and vulnerabilities. Governments now confront not only age-old threats like war but new ones such as terrorism, climate change, currency fluctuations, economic and currency policies, financial regulation policies, and infectious diseases that do not respect traditional state borders and resist unilateral solutions. In today’s globalized world, events far beyond one’s borders may have profound consequences for security and prosperity at home. Policymakers increasingly recognize that global interconnectedness makes cooperation among countries essential, regardless of whether the issue is terrorism or financial regulatory practices. But policymakers are also discovering that views on which issues should take priority and which solutions are most likely to work vary from capital to capital. Meanwhile, publics around the world increasingly worry that interdependence has gone too far, exposing them to dangers they would rather avoid and undermining their way of life. They know that globalization has eroded national borders, making it impossible for any country, however powerful, to operate in a vacuum. They are not sure they like it. No more is this rise of populism evident than in the revival of small-government movement in the U.S. and renewed vigor for Euroskepticist rhetoric from Finland to Germany. The proposed European Union Center of Excellence at the University of Texas at Austin will explore European and American responses to the pressures created by global interconnectedness. The Center will work to spur dialogue on the common challenges facing the European Union and the United States and to create opportunities for Europeans and Americans to discuss and evaluate contending policy solutions. Under the theme of Trans-border Opportunities and Challenges, the Center will work to spur dialogue on the common challenges facing the European Union and the United States and to create opportunities for Europeans and Americans to discuss and evaluate contending policy solutions. In doing so, the Center will engage the best minds in academia, government, business, and the not-for-profit sectors in its activities. The Center will work strenuously to publicize its events, competitions, and research with an active outreach program that will take full advantage of the powers of the Internet. The Center will specifically undertake as its main overarching theme the idea of Trans-National Policy Challenges. The Center will examine policy issues and challenges that eschew national-level policy responses. The EU is a great example to learn from for the purposes of this overarching theme. Its very existence ultimately boils down to the idea that European sovereign states abrogate their sovereignty in order to maximize policy-making effectiveness on a number of policy challenges that are otherwise impossible to limit merely to national government. Since 2008, the world has seen a number of such policy challenges. The economic crisis is the most obvious one, but how to deal with energy dependency in a geopolitically unstable region, or with a regional power seeking nuclear weapons are just few of the many challenges that cannot be resolved by one country alone. The economic crisis has across the board created a call for smaller government and for more national level policy responses. In the U.S., the bailouts of the financial sector in 2008 and mounting budget deficits have revitalized the “small government” movement. In the EU, a number of Eurozone bailouts have caused rancor across the continent – in the countries being bailed out due to the imposition of austerity measures and in the countries contributing to the bailout due to the perceived costs of the financial rescue. Euroskepticism is on the rise again. Certain policy responses, however, are impossible to be undertaken at a local and/or national level. Global cooperation and supranationalism is the only way to deal with challenges that themselves cross borders. We intend to make all our conferences and workshops available for download in video format on our website. A partnership between the European Commission and the flagship university of the State of Texas to tackle trans-border issues national policy issues makes eminent sense. The EU is the world’s oldest and most successful trans-national, trans-border governance institution. Texas is by nature a frontier state—it has the longest international land border of any state in the United States—and it is open to trade and movement of people. The University of Texas has both a wide and deep array of talent and expertise on the themes outlined above border issues, especially at its world-renowned professional schools. In short, we have much to learn from each other. An exchange of ideas between Europeans and Texans on trans-border national policy challenges such as financial regulation, economic policy, immigration, legal issues, energy security, and trade would greatly enrich the public debate in the United States and create possibilities for forging common ground within the transatlantic community. The Center will address its overarching theme of trans-border national policy opportunities and challenges by concentrating on three sub-themes: Transnational Policy ChallengesPost-Recession Policy Challenges, Europe’s EvolutionGeopolitics as Trans-National Policy Challenge, and Culture, Identity, and the Media. Law and Media. Transnational Policy ChallengesPost-Recession Policy Challenges Most policy problems today are transnational in nature. They do not stay at home. They cross borders. One major Center initiative, therefore, will focus specifically on trans-border policy problems confronting Europe and what these teach the U.S.. This effort will consist in part in sponsoring events and research on how the EU is responding to the transnational challenges its faces. To further focus our thematic research, the Center will concentrate on the Post-Recession Policy Challenges in terms of fiscal and monetary policies, but also on the social impacts of the economic crisis. The kinds of topics the Center will examine include: Immigration and Migrant Labor Monetary and Ffiscal Ppolicy Intersections of Llocal and Gglobal Bbusiness Ppractices Austerity implementation and deficit reduction measures Challenges to corporate/household deleveraging Financial sector regulation Exchange rate coordination Challenge of credit rating across continents Role of the investor community in shaping government responses Border SSecurity and EEnforcement Infectious diseases Human Rights Domestic and International Legal Practices Citizenship and Sexual Citizenship Terrorism and Secession Movements Conservation and the Sstewardship of Nnatural Rresources Conservation and the Stewardship of Cultural Partrimonies Domestic Rregulatory Fframeworks Energy Security and Technology The Role of Media Identity Politics With these activities the Center will seek to increase understanding within Texas and the United States of how Europeans define the economic and fiscal problems they face and why they favor some policy responses over others. Where appropriate, these activities will draw on lessons from the American experience that Europeans might find useful in choosing what steps to take-or to avoid. The Eurozone sovereign debt crisis has spurred Europe to undergo painful austerity measures and government balance sheet fiscal consolidation efforts, policy responses that have largely been lacking in the U.S. While investors continue to focus on Europe in a negative light, there is in fact a lot that Europe, led by the European Commission, has done right. Its statistical body – Eurostat – has begun consolidating new accounting standards and new enforcement mechanisms for Maastricht criteria have been agreed upon. The U.S., meanwhile, remains politically divided over the issue of deficit reduction and has largely failed to mobilize a response that even remotely mirrors that of the EU. The Center will look to learn from the EU response to the crisis and to inform the domestic debates in the U.S. with a number of conferences and events. The Center’s work on transnational policy challenges will also look at specific instances of U.S.- European cooperation on so-called out of area issues. One such topic involves the whole constellation of issues subsumed under the umbrella of peacekeeping and post-conflict governance. First in the Balkans and now in Afghanistan and elsewhere U.S. and European governments, both through NATO and outside it, are working cooperatively to reduce ethnic and sectarian violence and to build lasting structures of peace. These efforts have gone well beyond—indeed, have had to go well-beyond—“ordinary” military deployments and to encompass a broad array of diplomatic, economic, social, and judicial initiatives. The Center’s efforts in this area will seek to identify what lessons Europeans and Americans have learned over the past decade and to assess what new steps need be taken. The Strauss Center will be instrumental in….MARKO: TALK ABOUT WHAT IT CAN DO? ‘cause we don’t have much in this area in the conferences or workshops…. Europe’s Evolution Geopolitics as Trans-National Policy Challenge The European Union has emerged as a critical power in global economics and politics. The EU is the world’s largest market, a critical actor in international trade negotiations, and a major force in shaping commercial and legal regulations worldwide. The Euro, which is now celebrating its eleventhtenth anniversary, is a leading international currency that has weathered a major crisis and continues to be sought as a reserve currency by governments across the globe. The EU as a whole, and its most powerful members individually, wield considerable diplomatic clout on issues ranging from nuclear proliferation to climate change to the Middle East peace process. The EU has been at the forefront of the ongoing humanitarian intervention in Libya and has played a central role in the evolution of democracy in the Middle East. EU support policy underwrites crucial development programs throughout the developing world., particularly in light of the recent economic crises and in the context of the varied measures that European nations within the EU have sought to address it. Many Americans, and especially many Texans, do not understand or appreciate Europe’s emergence as a global power that in many respects rivals the United States. They are still wedded to a cold war view in which Europe is a decidedly junior partner to America, despite the roles being reversed to a large extent in the ongoing Libyan intervention. And they certainly do not understand the EU and its crucial role in European life. This tendency to see Europe as it was, rather than as it is and will be, has played a role in many of the trans-Atlantic disputes of recent years. The Center will address these issues by examining Europe’s evolution and emergence as a major global actor, seeking to understand Europe’s responses to a number of geopolitical issues as instructive case studies.. The Center will help UT faculty and students, as well as the broader Central Texas community, understand the current state of play in Europe’s politics and economycapacities to respond to geopolitical crises – from the 2008 Russo-Georgian war to the ongoing situation in Libya -- as well as the operations andglobal reach of the EU. The Center will pay special attention to the rich and varied debates within Europe over the future evolution of the EU, including issues such as the EU’s enlargement policy and the development and maturation of its Common Foreign and Security Policy, and to the EU’s critical role in dealing with secessionist regions and frozen conflicts on its bordersshaping regulatory policy. The former has tremendous relevance for U.S. foreign policy, while the latter matters greatly to American, and particularly the export-focused Texan, businesses. In pursuing these efforts the Center will draw heavily on its professional schools, especially the schools of business, law, and public affairs, all of which have considerable expertise and interest in these areas. In looking at the evolution of Europe as a geopolitical actor, the Center will examine Europe’s relations with nations of the former Soviet Union and the post-Communist Central/Eastern Europe. There is a divergence within Europe on what role Russia should play in this region. The Central/Eastern European members of the EU have a different perception of Moscow’s interests in the post-Soviet sphere than the West European member states. The question of whether Russia will join Europe or set itself apart is question of great geopolitical importance. Europe’s growing economic ties with Russia have outpaced its political ties. Russia is Europe’s main supplier of natural gas and a consumer for European exports. But Russian leaders dismiss European concerns about anti-democratic developments in Russia and criticize Europe for being too willing to follow the United States. The Center will look at Russian-European relationship, particularly in the cases of energy security and frozen conflict management, both in the Balkans and in the Caucasus. work closely with UT’s Center for Russian, Eastern European, and Eurasian Studies. The Center will also benefit from the partnership that the Robert S. Strauss Center has formed with the Moscow State Institute for International Relations (MGIMO). Presidents Bush and Putin have both endorsed the MGIMO-Strauss Center partnership, which involves student and faculty exchanges as well as joint research projects on common challenges to Russia and the United States. MARKO: THIS PART NEEDS TO BE REVISED IN KEEPING WITH WHAT WE’RE ACTUALLY DOING; SEE KUPERMAN’S CONFERENCE ON SECESSION The Center’s work on transnational policy challenges will also look at specific instances of U.S.- European cooperation on so-called out of area issues. One such topic involves the whole constellation of issues subsumed under the umbrella of peacekeeping and post-conflict governance. First in the Balkans then in Afghanistan and currently in Libya, U.S. and European governments, both through NATO and outside it, are working cooperatively to reduce ethnic and sectarian violence and to build lasting structures of peace. These efforts have gone well beyond—indeed, have had to go well-beyond—“ordinary” military deployments and to encompass a broad array of diplomatic, economic, social, and judicial initiatives. The Center’s efforts in this area will seek to identify what lessons Europeans and Americans have learned over the past decade and to assess what new steps need be taken. 3. Law and MediaCulture, Identity, and the Media Globalization is doing more than erode physical borders. It is also breaking down the borders that separate nations and cultures and the norms and morals that bind them. Ideas now cross political borders with the touch of a button on a computer. Meanwhile, the poorest migrants ranging from the poorest farmers to the wealthiest hedge- fund managers cross borders in ever growing numbers looking for opportunity. These varied migrants people bring different views and attitudes to their new homes, while technology allows them (if they want) to remain emotionally and culturally connected to their old homes. The movement of ideas and people stimulates creativity and innovation. It also challenges traditional notions of group identity. Do (and should) citizens of Denmark think of themselves primarily as Danes or Europeans? Will Muslim immigrants in Rotterdam and Hamburg and France come to see themselves as part of Europe or separate from it? Do Poles, Bulgarians, and citizens from other new entrants to the EU see the European project in the same way that citizens in Western Europe do? The Center will examine these questions of identity and citizenship. Identity politics (defined broadly), aided by the trans-border nature of information technology, is of great importance to a frontier state like Texas, which has the second largest foreign-born population in the United States. The University of Texas is home to some of the world’s leading researchers on the formation, expression, and evolution of identity. The Center will provide UT students, faculty, and staff as well as the wider Central Texas community of business people, policymakers, and not-for-profit leaders with a forum through which to learn about Europe’s experience with immigration and identity politics and to share their own experience and knowledge. The United States and Europe can learn a lot from each other about different migrant experiences, and Austin is an ideal vantage point from which to explore changing group identities in a comparative manner. In exploring culture, citizenship and identity, the Center will place particular emphasis on the role played by journalists and the media. We will provide a conduit through which practitioners, industry leaders, students, researchers, and faculty at UT’s professional schools of Radio, Television and Film as well as Journalism can access and discuss the academic scholarship and practices in Europe. The Center will encourage and support student exchanges and cooperation with universities in the EU. In short, we will provide UT students, faculty, and researchers, as well as those visiting Austin from Europe, with a trans-national platform for the study of new mediums in Radio, Television, Film and Journalism. The Center will also emphasize how legal practices in Europe and the U.S. are comparable and how the two can learn from one another. In sticking to the theme of identity politics, we will examine law and sexual citizenship and how these are perceived in Europe and the U.S. We will also emphasize the European perception of humanitarian and international law, particularly in the post global war on terror environment. Finally, the Center will provide the UT community and Central Texas as a whole with information about exhibitions and performances that will highlight the incredible depth and volume of European art and culture. The Center will work with the world famous Blanton Museum of Art and the Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center to attract European artists and art works to the UT campus to add to the already significant European art exhibitions and performances these institutions offer. MAJOR RESEARCH, TEACHING, AND OUTREACH ACTIVITIES TO BE UNDERTAKEN: The EU Center of Excellence at the University of Texas will use a variety of activities to cover the main themes of Trans-National Policy challenges and opportunitiestrans-border opportunities and challenges. In doing so, the Center will continuously seek to fulfill its main mission of involving the University student, faculty and researchers community in outreach efforts to the wider community of policy makers, stake holders, diplomats, business people, local institutions of higher education, and educational professionals. The Center will organize conferences and workshops, sponsor visiting EU scholars, facilitate student exchanges and research projects, support curriculum development on European themes, and disseminate educational and informative publications. We also will involve the local media in all our events, especially those that go beyond the involvement of the academic community. By placing all our conferences, invited talks and workshops on the internet for download we will also make our events available to everyone at anytime. Below is a brief overview of each activity divided into BLANKseven sections: (1) conferences; (2) lecture series; (3) workshops and outreach to K-12 and institutions of higher learning; (4) visiting EU scholars; (5) student exchanges, student research projects, and faculty research; (6) curriculum development on European and EU Themes; and (7); dissemination of information. Conferences I. EU Center of Excellence “Learning With Europe” Conference Series: The Center will organize three “major” conferences (10-15 invited participants) every academic year (typically taking place in November, March, and April) that will seek to involve a large number of researchers, policy makers, and stake holders from both the US and Europe. The broad themes of the three yearly conferences over the grant cycle are as follows: Year 1 (2011-12): Focus on Monetary Issues: Austerity, Elites, and the Euro 1. “Alternatives to Austerity in the EU and US: Monetary Policies” (Principal organizers: CES and LBJ) 2. “The Euro Crisis” (Principal organizers: CES and Law) “Elite Policymaking and Financing in the EU and US: Accountability or Paralysis?” (Principal organizers: CES and Govt.) Year 2 (2012-13) Focus on Pubic Policy Issues: Energy, Secession, and Identity 1. “EU-US Energy: Comparative Energy Public Policies and Technologies.” (Principal organizers: CES and Cockrell School of Engineering) 2. “Reassessing EU/US Policy on Secession: The Lessons of Yugoslavia and Georgia” (Principal organizers: CES, LBJ, and CREEES) 3. “Comparative Politics of Identity in the European Union” (Principal organizers: CES, LBJ, Govt., and CREEES) Year 3 (2013-14) Focus on Human Rights & Citizenship Issues: Citizenship, Media, and Law 1. “Sexual Citizenship and Human Rights: What Can the U.S. Learn from the EU and European Law?” (Principal organizers: CES, Law, and Rapoport Center for Human Rights) 2. “Comparing European Union and North-American Approaches to International Law and Human Rights” (Principal organizers: CES, Rapoport Center for Human Rights, Women’s and Gender Studies, and CREEES) 3. “The European Public Sphere: Understanding the Role of Mass Media and Interpersonal Discussion in Shaping Today's European Citizenship” (CES and the School of Journalism). The nine conferences, as outlined above, will be organized in collaboration with departments, centers, and colleges across campus, including professional schools, such as LBJ, Law, Journalism, and the Robert S. Strauss Center for International Security and Law. Finally, each conference will be led by a major figure in the field, such as Jamie Galbraith, the noted economist, who will in fact be leading the first conference, which examines austerity measures in select EU nations within the broader comparative context of EU-US relations. II. EU Center of Excellence “Connecting Central Texas Businesses to the European Markets” Summit Conference Series: Hosted in Austin, the Texas EU Summit, “Connecting Central Texas Businesses to the European Markets,” will provide each year small businesses, policy makers and economic development professionals with an overview of how to target and expand business opportunities in Europe. The summit will focus on promoting and building the international trade capacity of Texas-based small businesses and economic development organizations while creating greater awareness regarding the benefits of exporting.exporting to the world’s largest market. The intention of the series will be to connect Texas businesses with their European counterparts so that they can find partners who may want to form joint ventures and memorandums of understanding to mutual benefit. Conference Goal: provide the small businesses of Texas with the information, contacts and tools necessary to tap into trade and investment opportunities in the EU. The long-term goal is to assist Texas and EU businesses to create mutual business opportunities. The intention of the series will be to connect Texas businesses with their European counterparts so that they can find partners who may want to form joint ventures and memorandums of understanding to mutual benefit. Target Audience: small and medium business firms from throughout Texas including new-to-export and existing exporters that want to grow their international operations, professionals from international trade assistance organizations, local and EU chambers of commerce, manufacturing associations, agricultural focused organizations, technology incubators, renewable energy companies and financial services providers. Projected Attendees: 150-200 small businesses and economic development professionals from throughout Texas Lecture Series I. EU Center of Excellence EU-US Distinguished Business and Politics Lecture Series: The Center for European Studies (CES) and the McCombs School of Business’s Center for International Business Education and Research (CIBER) will collaborate with the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs in the form of a three-part lecture series over the grant cycle, with three lectures sponsored each year, for a total of 9 lectures. The series will focus on the economies and international relations of the EU and US, and each will have a significant business outreach component to them. The purpose of this series is: (1) to promote student and faculty dialogue on these two important regions and trading partners of the world; (2) to encourage outreach between the university and the broader public, including the Central Texas business community; and (3) to facilitate the establishment of a more permanent intellectual community among Liberal Arts, the McCombs School, and the LBJ School in the field of EU-US studies. II. EU Center of Excellence Diplomat Speakers Series: The Center will assist LBJ in bringing in speakers from the European Union, former and current diplomats. Speakers will be drawn both from Member State diplomatic corps and the European External Action Service. diplomatic service (both of the Union and its Member States). Indeed, LBJ and the Strauss Center, which is housed in it, regularly bring in diplomats, such as the German Ambassador to the U.S. Klaus Scharioth who came to the University of Texas in December, 2010 and addressed Berlin’s policy response to the Eurozone financial crisis as well as geopolitical matters such as Russian resurgence and U.S.-German collaboration in the Middle East. Ambassador to Germany, NAME, who was recently came to UT to address for a colloquium series that will address pressing global and trans-border issues. This colloquium series will address issues such matters as immigration policy, public health concerns, business opportunities, and cross-border crime. The series will be held in the prestigious LBJ Presidential Library Presidential Suite. In short, LBJ and the Strauss Center will provide the EU Center of Excellence with a prestigious forawith prestigious fora for prominent diplomats from the EU institutions and EU member states. III. EU Center of Excellence “Europe and Islam Speak” Lecture and Seminar Cultural Exchange Series: CES will coordinate and organize a collaborative lecture series and faculty exchange with the the École des hautes études en sciences sociales (EHESS, as well as the Centre d’Histoire Sociale de l'Islam Méditerranéen), in Paris, which would involve, among other things, a scholar from the Centre coming to UT once a year to work with students and faculty on the topic of Muslim communities and their histories in Europe and the EU. We anticipate one lecture each year as part of our series on “Europe and Islam Speak.” IV. EU Center of Excellence Anthropology Lecture Series: MARIAH WADE IS DEVELOPING THIS. ONE PERSON A YEAR. Workshops, and Outreach to K-12 and Institutions of Higher Learning I. The Center will sponsor annual workshops for secondary school (high school) teachers on how to integrate European Union issues in their curriculums. This project will be organized in conjunction with “The Academy of Global Studies” at the Austin High School. The Center will provide administrative support as well as the venue. In 2012-13 we will expand the workshop to include Central Texas high schools. In 2013-14 we will expand it to the entire state. II. As part of its larger outreach mission, CES will participate in the Euro Challenge, a program launched and sponsored by the Delegation of the EU to the United States in Washington, DC. The Euro Challenge provides educational opportunity for high school students to learn about the EU and the euro. Student teams of three to five students are asked to make presentations answering specific questions about the European economy and the single currency, the euro. They are also asked to pick one member country of the “euro area” to examine an economic problem at the country level, and to identify policies for responding to that problem. CES plans to SALLY, CAN YOU WORK ON THIS PART III. As part of its overall outreach efforts, in particular with an aim to forging connections with minority institutions in the community, CES will develop a series of classes on European and EU related topics at Huston-Tillotson University, a historically black college in the heart of Austin, Texas. IV. As part of its overall outreach efforts, in particular with an aim to reach K-16 students and provide high school teachers in Texas with useful lesson plans, CES will organize every year the following workshops: Workshop 1: “Grants and fellowships for studying in and researching on Europe.” Here our focus will be primarily university students. Workshop 2: “Teaching European Union in Texas High Schools.” Here our focus will be primarily teacher training of high school instructors. Visiting EU Scholar(s) The Center, in cooperation with the deans of the College of Liberal Arts and the Department of Germanic Studies, will provide funds and research assistance for two visiting EU scholars from Germany and Sweden to teach courses that will fall within the themes indicated in the “Major Themes” section. Depending on the skill-set of the scholar, they may teach cross-listed in one of the professional schools. Concentrating on scholars from Germany and Sweden will offer UT students and faculty an important perspective of the EU. As the economic powerhouse of the EU, Berlin has become far more involved in resolving the Eurozone sovereign debt crisis. Germany is also emerging as an important political leader in Europe and has come to lead a number of important European initiatives, including the recent effort to create an EU-Russia Political and Security Committee. Sweden is also an EU political and economic leader. While it stands outside of the Eurozone, it has been involved in supporting the efforts of the currency bloc to stabilize peripheral European economies. Sweden is also a geopolitical leader, by spearheading with Poland the EU Eastern Partnership initiative. Its leadership efforts in the Baltic region are considerable and it is one of the most involved EU nations in Eastern/Central Europe. Student Exchanges, Student Research Projects, and Facutly Research Funding The Center will provide undergraduate and graduate students with opportunities for exchanges and research projects. The Center will provide information about grants and funding opportunities for students interested in studying or researching in Europe available from the University of Texas. The Center will also support the already existing exchange programs within UT’s professional schools. The Center will also provide grants for research: faculty and graduate student one FILL OUT STILL Curriculum Development on European and EU Themes The Center will provide funds through a competitive application for faculty to help them organize and teach an existing course around the themes of the European Union. I. We will fund the creation of a “signature course” on European Union and will hold an open competition to design such a course for the Fall 2009 semester. The Signature Course series is the centerpiece of University of Texas’s Curriculum Reform. The signature course program provides all first-year students at the University with a course that helps them make the transition from promising high school students to good college students. As such it constitutes an important gateway course that can shape what students will study during their time at UT. Our focus over the three-year grant cycle period will be on “ethics and leadership in the EU and/or EU-US Relations.” We have the strong support of Dean Paul Woodruff, who has implemented these required signature courses and integrated them into the curriculum, for this theme related to ethics and leadership in the EU and/or EU-US relations. II. We will be providing funds for competitive proposals for the development and instruction of courses related to commerce and business in the EU. In doing so, as part of our overall commitment to connecting the humanities with the work of professional schools, we aim to fashion courses that are useful for both business and liberal arts majors. There is a great demand for these sorts of interdisciplinary courses, and we believe that a course that emphasizes transnational aspects of business would be appealing to students of both majors. The course will emphasize not only the business side of the comparative study, but also cultural and historical aspects of establishing successful business relationships in the EU. ….BLAH FILL OUT III. We have been invited by the Center for European Studies at the University of North Carolina, which is both an NRC and a EU Center of Excellence, to participate in a developmental course project that uses video-conferencing technology to tap into faculty expertise at three state universities and bring this expertise to the benefit of a wider student audience. The project would be coordinated by the Center for European Studies/EU Center at UNC-Chapel Hill. Courses will be taught by faculty at North Carolina State University, University of Texas at Austin, and UNC-Chapel Hill. The project’s goal is to broaden the impact of faculty expertise and offer students a wider array of EU-focused courses and a way to earn a certificate in EU Studies. The video collaborative will offer students on three campuses a broader range of courses on EU topics than would be possible on any individual campus. We conservatively estimate that we will have enrollments of around 70 students across the three campuses in each class. Marko, we need to figure out if this is something we can TECHNICALLY DO and, more to the point, financially afford to do. I put it in for the moment, but it will probably have to “go.” Dissemination of Information The Center will maintain a website on which it will publicize all its events and funding opportunities. The website will also seek to collect all European-related funding opportunities and events put on by all the professional schools, departments and outside collaborators. We will therefore maintain a thorough calendar of events for European-related events and activities in Central Texas. We will place all of our events on the website in a downloadable video format. To disseminate our educational and informative publications, the Center will create an extensive email list compiled from participants to our events, interested students as well as partners in professional schools and academic departments and a monthly newsletter that will be compiled for the email list. The newsletter will: list of the upcoming EU Center Events, as well as European related events put on by other schools and departments both at the University of Texas and our partner educational institutions in the region; provide the upcoming deadlines for funding and grants from the EU Center, as well as funding opportunities from other schools and departments within the University of Texas, list of the upcoming deadlines for funding and grants from non-University of Texas entities (European Union, The US State Department, Council for European Studies, etc.) provide links to the news sources about issues in the European Union (such as EU’s Press Room: http://europa.eu/press_room/index_en.htm). The Center will also fund a student run, peer-reviewed, academic journal of European Union Public Policy. This will be organized and run in collaboration with the LBJ School of Public Affairs, UT School of Law and the McCombs School of Business and will accept graduate research papers (as well as outstanding undergraduate papers) from all the departments at the University of Texas as well as from partner educational institutions in Central Texas. The Center will cover printing costs, while the journal will be entirely run and edited by volunteer students at the LBJ School. IMPACT OF THE PROGRAM UPON THE UNIVERSITY COMMUNITY AND EXTERNAL OUTREACH CONSTITUENCIES: The EU Center of Excellence will bring together the vibrant community of scholars and students on campus and inform them of the opportunities that the campus already provides, pointing them in the direction of the new opportunities that the Center will bring in. The Center will also involve Austin’s vibrant community of policy makers, stake holders, secondary school teachers/students and business professionals in its activities. Austin is the capital of Texas and as such it is the nerve center of the government and policy activity. The Center will become the main source of information for ideas and advice on European affairs, both in the realm of public policy and business. Austin is also a city of “ideas”, with important high technology and media industries (Dell, 3M, Motorola, etc.). We intend to use our University’s already strong and established links with the Texas State Capitol and the business community to bring the EU Center to the forefront. We will involve the Texas business community in our events and conferences. Aside from collaborating with them in conference preparation, we also intend to provide the business community with events and information that they will be able to use in their day-to-day activities. We therefore intend to put on a large conference summit and a series of workshops for the business community (in conjunction with our professional schools) on how to invest in Europe and how to learn more about European regulatory practices. We will involve the Governor’s Office as well as the members and staff of the Texas Legislature in our events and activities. We will bring Texas policy makers together with European academics/policy-makers and hope to engender a discussion on how Texas can learn from European policy solutions in the realm of border control, public health, public transportation, urban planning and educational policy. We intend to illustrate to Texas legislators and policy makers that many of their problems are encountered by government officials in Europe and that just as threats and problems can cross borders in our contemporary world, so can solutions. The Center will also reach out to the universities and colleges in the surrounding Central Texas area and thus involve a wider number of students and researchers in its funding opportunities and conference preparations. We intend to collaborate with the entire University of Texas system of schools (nine universities and six health institutions with a total of over 190210,000 students) as well as with Central Texas universities and colleges that will form our partnership network: Texas State University (San Marcos), Texas Lutheran University (Seguin), Houston-Tillotson University (Austin), Concordia University (Austin), St. Edwards University (Austin) and Austin Community College. Of special importance, in an effort to reach a minority population, we will develop EU content-based classes at Huston-Tillotson, a historically black college in the heart of Austin and not far from the University of Texas at Austin. The Center will also create an all-volunteer Advisory Board that will bring together former U.S. Ambassadors to Europe, prominent business people and academics. We intend to gather all the European-oriented minds of Central Texas in one institutional framework and learn from their ideas and suggestions on how to increase the dialogue between Europe and Texas, and the United States in extension. We will also create, with the help of existing academic links and collaborations, a “University of Texas EU Center Distinguished Fellows,” a contact list of academics from the United States, Canada and Mexico who concentrate on Europe. We will keep these academics informed of our events and hope that they will help us disseminate information about our events and research efforts. The list will be a useful resource for students and researchers seeking advice about their projects.

EU CENTERS 2008-11

Narrative Proposal Form
1. Strategic Support of Host University and Center Visibility. Applicants should explain how their activities will reinforce and benefit from any ongoing university efforts to support international and/or European programs. They should also explain how the university will support the Center with staff and other logistical assistance, and how the Center will ensure high physical and programmatic visibility within the university. Applicants receiving funding during the 2008-2011 period should explain their relative level of success in achieving the above, and also how they will enhance and expand that performance during the 2011-2014 period. Attach additional page(s) if necessary.

1. 
   Reinforcing ongoing university efforts:
   

The University of Texas at Austin has a strong commitment toward scholarship that seeks to expand knowledge of Europe and of Global Affairs. The EU Center of Excellence, which will be housed in the Center for European Studies (currently a National Resource Center), will work in close collaboration with UT’s professional schools, especially the Lyndon B. Johnson (LBJ) School of Public Affairs, the School of Law, McCombs School of Business, the School of Journalism, and the Cockrell School of Engineering. The Center will also benefit from close support of the Robert S. Strauss Center for International Security and Law, the Harry Ransom Research Libaray, the Blanton Museum, the Rapoport Center for Human Rights, Women’s and Gender Studies, the Government Department, and the Center for Russian, East European, and Eurasian Studies (CREEES). The activities related to Europe of these schools, departments, centers and programs are vast, as one would expect of one of the largest and most well endowed universities in the world.

The EU Center of Excellence will reinforce the current undergraduate Major of European Studies. The European scholars and fellows brought in from European universities will help teach courses for the undergraduate major. However, the Center will also work at developing with the professional schools (Law, Business, Journalism) a joint-degree program that would incorporate the European Studies major and the professional school degree. The Center will also work through CES to develop further avenues for graduate study in the field of EU and Europe. To this end, CES has received approval from the Deans of CoLA (Randy Diehl) and CoLA (Ambassador Robert Hutchings) to move forward with the creation of an MA in European Studies (see letters of support), with the aim of creating joint European Studies/EU interdisciplinary tracks in allied colleges and schools and establishing joint MA degrees with LBJ during the grant cycle.
The EU Center of Excellence will be a “force multiplier” of these institutes, museums and schools, concentrating on disseminating information and facilitating cooperation in the realm of European scholarship amongst and between them. Below is a brief outline of what is only a fraction of ongoing activities to support European research in a number of schools, departments and institutes:

Center for European Studies –
The Center for European Studies (CES), which is proposing to be the home for the EU Center of Excellence, promotes the study of Europe in the form of: language study; providing courses on European culture, history, economics, business, and politics; creating opportunities for study abroad and internships abroad; and assisting students in pursuing work opportunities connected to Europe.  CES also serves civic, nonprofit, and business associations with activities in Europe; academic leaders and institutions from Europe with collaborative agreements with UT; governmental and multilateral agencies dedicated to social and economic betterment in Europe; and the general public in Texas and the US whose world outlook includes Europe.
As a National Resource Center funded by a Title VI grant from the US Department of Education, CES sponsors major conferences, workshops, faculty interest groups, and scholarly symposia.  CES also provides Foreign Language and Area Studies (FLAS) fellowships to students pursuing graduate and undergraduate degrees relating to Europe in any department or school of the university.  Over the four year grant cycle, from 2010-2014, CES will be awarding FLAS fellowships to graduate and undergraduate students developing language skills in traditional European languages (such as French, German, Italian, Portuguese, and Spanish) as well as those developing language skills in non-European priority languages (such as Arabic, Persian, Hindi, and Turkish) where those skills would deepen and broaden an understanding of the area studies of Europe generally.
CES has a firm commitment to developing campus resources and courses that will give students the training they need to participate in an international arena in which the European Union plays a key role. By highlighting an interdisciplinary course of study and by offering a degree plan that is not limited by traditional disciplinary boundaries, CES can respond to political and private sector demands for integrated studies that include both academic study and professional training. 
CES is committed to reaching out to the campus community as well as the broader region to provide access to European speakers and activities which will promote interest in Europe.  As part of the largest university in the state of Texas, CES has a special responsibility to support continued international development and to educate students that can play a fundamental role in an international community in which the European Union is a critical player.
Programs, Colleges, and Centers that will contribute to CES’s Work as the Home for the EU Center of Excellence and be integrated closely into its activities:
Center for Russian, Eastern European and Eurasian Studies –
CREEES offers approximately 50 courses in the languages of the area and 60 courses in the social sciences, humanities, and professional schools relevant to the study of the former Soviet Union and Central and Eastern Europe. CREEES offers BA and MA degrees as well as four dual-degree programs with the professional schools.
CREEES sponsors a variety of scholarly, instructional, and outreach activities during the academic year. Scholarly events include lectures by distinguished visiting speakers, film and photography exhibits, an annual Symposium featuring the best current scholarship on the region, and an international symposium in conjunction with other area centers at UT. In addition to regular undergraduate and graduate courses, CREEES sponsors workshops in thesis preparation, grant writing, and career counseling. Throughout the year and during the summer CREEES sponsors outreach programs for K-12 teachers including a speakers' bureau, K-12 resource pages for students and teachers linked to the center's homepage and training institutes to bring the latest scholarship to K-12 teachers. I asked Mary to update

Professional Schools
Jackson School of Geosciences –
Center for International Energy and Environmental Policy (CIEEP) - a joint venture of the Jackson School of Geosciences, the LBJ School of Public Affairs and the College of Engineering. It focuses on the development of national and international energy and environmental policy options with emphasis on the technical perspective that is most commonly lacking in policy efforts at academic institutions distant from the energy industry and educational scene. CIEEP has put on EU focused conferences before, including bringing in the French Ambassador to the U.S. in the Fall of 2008 to discuss French-U.S. energy issues, bringing together Texas business leaders and policy makers. Check to see if still accurate (PUT IN THAT we successfully developed a conference on Energy policies in US and Europe a few years ago…get dates)

UT School of Law –
The Institute for Transnational Law – led by the University of Texas and University College of London Professor Basil Markesinis, the Institute fosters close cooperation with a number of eminent Law Schools in Europe. The Institute promotes faculty and student exchanges to Europe (as well as other locations) and organizes international internships with courts, international institutions and NGO’s in Europe (including a highly successful internship with the ICTY in The Hague). Check to see if still accurate
The Center for Law, Business and Economics – combines an interdisciplinary approach to the study of international business and law. Holds frequent Workshop Series in Europe (Universiteit Van Amsterdam, University of Cambridge, etc.) and supports student and faculty research on a wide variety of international (and European) business topics. Check to see if still accurate

The Rapoport Center for Human Rights - BLAH BLAH
The Rapoport Center serves as a focal point for critical, interdisciplinary analysis and practice of human rights both locally and globally. It publishes frequent research on human rights and immigration issues.
McCombs School of Business –
The Center for International Business and Education Research (CIBER) – offers both undergraduate (BBA) and graduate (MBA) exchange programs in top European business schools.
The BBA international program office also coordinates semester and summer exchange programs with elite business school partners around the world.Undergraduate business students at McCombs can study abroad while earning credit for their business degree, receiving in-residence credit and paying UT tuition.  Special scholarships are available to help students fund their experience, along with any regularly awarded financial aid and scholarships.  While language study is possible and encouraged at nearly all our partners, most have classes in English so foreign language proficiency is not a requirement to hold back participation in the programs.  
English Language Programs:

Austria (Vienna), Wirtschaftsuniversität Wien

Belgium (Louvain-la-Neuve), Université Catholique de Louvain

Czech Republic (Prague), University of Economics

Denmark, Copenhagen Business School

England (Bath), University of Bath

France (Paris), École Supérieure de Commerce de Paris, ESCP Europe

France (Paris), Hautes Études Commerciales, HEC

Germany (Vallendar), WHU Otto Beisheim School of Management

Italy (Milan), Universitá Commerciale Luigi Bocconi

Netherlands (Rotterdam), Rotterdam School of Management - Erasmus University

Norway (Oslo), BI, Norwegian School of Management

Scotland (Edinburgh), University of Edinburgh

Switzerland (St. Gallen), St. Gallen Universität  

Foreign Language Programs:

Spain (Barcelona), Escuela Superior de Administración y Dirección de Empresas, ESADE

Spain (Bilbao), Universidad de Deusto

Spain (Madrid), ICADE

Also supports visiting scholar programs from the SDA Bocconi School of Management. Check to see if still accurate

The IC² Institute – The Theory and Practice of Entrepreneurial Wealth Creation, an interdisciplinary institute that supports faculty exchange from Europe as well as research programs for graduate students. The institute has hosted fellows from Germany, Russia and wider Europe. It also provides business incubation services for a wide variety of business from across the world, from Portugal to Russia. It also has a Global Fellows Program which is a global community of creative and innovative leaders from academia, business and government. The network has existed since 1977 and has grown to include about 160 active global fellows from eighteen nations including eighteen faculty members of the University of Texas at Austin who are endowed by the Institute. Marko, can you give some more information here on some of the recent projects: Portugal, etc.?

LBJ School of Public Affairs –
Center for International Energy and Environmental Research – supports a number of research initiatives and collaborations with European institutions. The LBJ School is also a leader in policy research with faculty concentrating on U.S. policy, but also internationally. The Dean, moreover, is the noted European/EU specialist, Ambasssador Hutchings, who is invested in developing European and EU studies on campus and has been working closely with CES on a number of initiatives, not least the development of a Masters in European Studies. Check to see if still accurate

School of Journalism –
School of Journalism has programs in the Czech Republic, Spain and Austria. In Czech Republic the program is focused on photography. The Austrian exchange opportunity is a three week program in Salzburg held in the world-renowed Schlossleopoldskron, where students create an online global media literacy curriculum. In Spain the exchange focuses on language training in Santander.
Robert S. Strauss Center of International Security and Law
The Strauss Center supports researchers and students on a number of projects involving international and European topics. The Center provides an extensive speaker series of academics, policy makers and stake holders with frequent showcases of prominent commentators on European and American foreign policy. The Center is designed so that it can focus and draw upon the vast research programs at the university and bring them together in a coherent whole, multiplying their effect and reach.
Cockrell Engineering School –
International Engineering Education Office – provides student and research exchanges to Europe (University of Edinburgh, INSA-Toulouse, University College of London, Swedish Royal Institute of Technology and University of Grenoble). CHECK TO SEE IF STILL
Libraries/Institutes/Museums: